2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Ohio State CB Jeffrey Okudah

Brian Lamb is the owner of NFL Draft Lounge and has covered the NFL Draft since 2011. Brian is also the owner of the Infinity Sports Network, which NFL Draft Lounge belongs to.

Jeffrey Okudah

Height: 6’1

Weight: 200 lbs

2019 Unanimous First-Team All-American

2019 Thorpe Award Finalist (Country’s Top Defensive Back)

2019 First-Team All-Big Ten

Three-year productive defensive back for Ohio State University. Consensus five-star recruiting prospect. In this scouting report, we’ll breakdown his mechanics and evaluate his future as an NFL cornerback.

What I Like:

Tight Man Coverage

Jeffrey Okudah has taken giant strides in improving his man coverage ability throughout his collegiate career. On this play, Okudah does a solid job of keeping his hips pointed at the receiver and using his hands to press the receiver. There’s a bit of pulling at the jersey, but Jeffrey Okudah displays excellent ability to get his hand around the receiver to breakup the pass.

What I Dislike:

Inside Coverage Ability

This particular play isn’t necessarily Jeffrey Okudah’s fault, but it does display struggles in off coverage. While studying his tape, I found several plays to support this. On this play, Okudah is playing outside coverage along the sidelines. Once the receiver breaks inside on his way to the endzone, Okudah is too far away to make a play. As the quarterback releases the ball, Jeffrey Okudah is playing catch up.

Where I’ve Seen Improvement:

Tracking and Range

Jeffrey Okudah does a fantastic job here of reading the quarterback and diagnosing the play quickly and accurately. Once Okudah locates the receiver, he takes an efficient route to the ball and knocks him out of bounds.

Overall Breakdown

Has good height and solid weight for the defensive back position. Displays good acceleration and speed to stay with receivers on downfield routes. Has good change of direction ability. Shows to have a good ability to mirror and stay within range of receivers on all routes. Has a solid ability to peel from man coverage and drop seamlessly into zone coverage. Displays solid backpedal and change of direction in short and intermediate coverage. Shows to have a good ability to track the ball downfield and disrupt the catch. Has good use of hands to downfield to dislodge the ball from the ballcarrier’s grasp. Displays good use of hands at the line of scrimmage to press and stun the receiver’s burst. Shows to have a good ability to stay patient and remain balanced to deliver efficient tackles in the open field. Displays a solid ability to release from blocks to tackle the ballcarrier in open space. Has very good range to break on the ball in the flats once the play is diagnosed.

Has an adequate ability to maintain leverage on route across the middle of the field. Displays an adequate ability to release from blocks quickly to attack ballcarriers in open space.

2020 NFL Draft Projection

Top Fifteen Overall

Jeffrey Okudah had an extremely successful 2019 college season that saw his draft stock skyrocket. His man coverage ability, specifically press coverage, is good enough to make him a day one starter at corner in the National Football League. I have him projected to be drafted in the top fifteen, but it’s quite likely that we see him off the board within the first five to ten picks.